Medical Malpractice

Medical Malpractice

Healthcare providers, like other professionals, are required to utilize that degree of care and skill which should be expected of a reasonable practitioner under the same or similar circumstances. This requirement is known as the “Standard of Care.” Medical malpractice claims seek compensation from healthcare providers for conduct that violates the Standard of Care, also known as negligence, and which results in injury to the patient. Medical malpractice claims fall into two general categories:

  1. Active conduct in violation of Standards of Care that causes injury to the patient or
  2. Failures to act in violation of Standards of Care which result in injury to the patient.

However, medical Standards of Care do not guarantee successful treatment. Even within the Standard of Care we know bad results can and do happen, despite the medical provider’s best intentions and judgment. As professionals, and from our common experiences, we know medical malpractice is hardly ever intended. But, being human, we are all subject to mistakes in judgment and other errors from time to time. Thus, medical malpractice is most often simply the result of human error, and no more malicious or offensive than the negligent acts of drivers who cause injuries by automobile collisions.

Landmark studies by the National Institute of Health and other reliable sources tell us that more than 100,000 people die every year from such Medial Malpractice. Indeed, more people die from Medial Malpractice every year than from auto accidents, breast cancer, and AIDS, combined. Indeed, in this day and age when medical care is directed and controlled by health insurance “cook books,” we find that the quality of patient care often suffers as a result. However, more often than not medical malpractice goes undetected and unreported to the patients or their families.

Unfortunately, because of the present mind set conditioned into the medical professional, patients and their families are rarely advised of medical errors, which adds to the emotional toll and frustration experienced by the victims of medical malpractice. Correspondingly, it is rare that medical records, which are of course prepared by the medical providers, indicate any acknowledgment of medical malpractice. To the contrary, it has been our experience that medical care providers in most communities typically close ranks in avoidance of the acknowledgment of medical malpractice. This is another reason why medical malpractice cases take a great deal of time, effort, and expense to investigate and prosecute. With our collective experience of over 36 years of practice, we have successfully investigated and prosecuted many medical malpractice claims to provide our clients needed answers and compensation for life-altering injuries and for the deaths of loved ones. To do so we have embraced and followed the philosophy and practice to always intimately involve our clients in the investigation and prosecution of their medical malpractice claims. We carefully and compassionately work with our clients to confront the hurdles that profound injuries, disabilities, impairments, and the emotional and financial fallout wrought by the death of a loved one caused by medical malpractice. This close relationship with our clients and their families serves to maximize the benefit of our representation to overcome these tragic effects, and often extends well after their cases have been resolved.

If you or a loved one has suffered an injury, illness or death as a result of medical malpractice please call us to speak with an attorney for a free consultation. We urge you to make contact with us without delay. There are specific deadlines for filing medical malpractice claims, and if a claim is not filed before that deadline (known as the statute of limitations), the claim may be forever lost. Also, with each passing day it seems the victims of medical malpractice are confronted by yet another effort by federal and state lawmakers to further restrict their rights. Thus, any delay in pursuing claims also runs the risk that a medical malpractice victim’s rights will be further hampered by these legislative changes.